Jo Townsend takes the Kobold VK7 for a test-drive.
Ok, let me declare my hand. I’m the sort of person who enjoys vacuuming. In fact, when I grew up it was always ‘can you hoover your room please?’ I loved that old Hoover Junior we had in England – sure it was heavy but it was pretty powerful and I learnt how to change the rubber drive band under the front cover, not to mention replace the bag.
Enough of the old days. Imagine my horror when I was asked to review a machine I recognised as a ‘hoover’ but also had a wet and dry-cleaning attachment for hard floors, upholstery brush, mattress cleaning set and the ability for the handle to fold down to a nimble cordless car vacuum. In short, not for the faint hearted. Or so I thought.
Sure, you need a bit of patience getting through the instructions. If you’re someone who has the attention span of a teenager on Tik-Tok, then maybe this will be a struggle. But then, it’s unlikely this person will be doing the driving.
It wasn’t so bad. My advice – go for the Quick Start instructions and understand the VK7 is the main player and that EB7 (Normal Vacuuming), SP7 (Wet & Dry Cleaning), HD7 (Hard Floor Cleaning) and PB7 (Upholstery Cleaning) are the extensions and represent usage.
Still with me? I started with the normal hoover (sorry Kobold) application. That would be the EB7. It really isn’t that hard to put the thing together, swivel the arm out and put in the bag. Yes, we have a bag folks! Having said that it’s a tough bag and I’m still on the first one and emptying as I go. Starting for the first time with the VK7 is the hardest part. Fortunately, it does come with a bit of charge so for Tik-Tok people you can get straight to it.
I must confess it was pretty good. I took my newfound friend across a carpet recently vacated by my son – you can only imagine – and it hoovered up quite a bit of …. whatever. Honestly, not bad at all. A strong motor and the Auto function worked really well when going from carpet onto hard wood floors – a common problem in Australia. I liked the way you can increase power easily and so far, so good – it didn’t seem to have a bad effect on the battery power – signalled in a lighted percentage on the front of the machine.
The SP7 (Wet & Dry) was a bit harder to put together, but again, the instructions are very clear. The mop clips on with the Velcro easily and the small water tank is easy to pull out and push in on top of the SP7 base attachment. A dash of the cleaning fluid into the small tank goes a long way. The Kobold vibrates the mop attachment on the SP7 at a rapid rate but is easy to move across a wooden floor. The cleaning is excellent, and the beauty of the Kobold is that it uses very little water and consequently dries very quickly. On the downside, check the battery percentage, as you can drain it pretty quickly on the highest pulse of the SP7.
Now for the PB7. I just used this for my car. It needed a serious vacuum as it collects quite a bit of sand as I go to the beach often, plus your general stuff. Now, I’ve tried a few car vacuum attachments in my time and the majority have been a massive disappointment. No suction, attachment that doesn’t fit in small areas.
The main thing the Kobold has going for it is the suction power. It’s impressive and together with the rubber attachment even managed to pull out some engrained sand around the gear stick. All in all, a versatile, easy to store and efficient machine.
As good as the Hoover Junior in its day? Absolutely!
More Info
The German-made Kobold VK7 is the appliance that both mops and vacuums at the same time. It has three different options of water release available to perfectly match your floor type, and the Kobold VK7 vacuum mop will help you clean your hard floors, for cleaner and quicker finish.
Long-lasting, high-performance lithium-ion 29.6 volt battery that contains a unique self-cooling material, which results in an extended battery service life.
Integrated LED display for constant visibility on charge level and only 2 hours from flat to fully charged.
Patented four-layer microfibre filter bag technology with three filtration systems. The bags are made with 80 per cent recycled materials and capture 99.99 per cent of particles, including dust mites and fine dust (up to 0.3 microns). Far more efficient clean than ‘bagless’ vacuums in market.
High performing floor brush with a much deeper clean than a standard vacuum. The VK7 includes two motors with optimised suction channels, four power levels plus a boost function for bigger particles. High speed motor accelerates to 480 km/h and a maximum air flow of 27 litres per second. Lowest noise in its category at 78 dB.
Kobold Cordless Vacuum (VK7) and 2 in 1 Vacuum Mop Attachment (SP7) bundle – AUD $2,399 / NZD $2,499.
